Boss hoping key men will sign on

ARBROATH manager Paul Sheerin is still hopeful some of the stand out players from last season’s championship winning squad will sign on for the coming campaign.

So far, the boss has managed to secure the signatures of 11 players, including Steven Doris who hit the net 16 times last season.

Keith Gibson, Kieran McAnespie and Mr Sheerin himself are among those to have pledged their services to the club.

And even though others are yet to sign, the boss is still hopeful of them being at Gayfield next season.

He revealed: “We spoke to last year’s squad early. We would like to sign up Gavin Swankie and Josh Falkingham and it looks as though we may have a chance of getting Ross Chisholm back on board.

“It’s just about striving to tie things up and we have also had a few who have said they will sign but we will wait to see what happens before I count my chickens.

“But we are definitely moving in the right direction and we have 11 confirmed players at the moment so we can at least field a team and ideally I would like a squad of around 18.

“So we are definitely moving in the right direction.”

Pre-season training for the Lichties starts in just over two weeks with the players reporting back on June 20.

And their opening fixtures have already been drawn. The campaign will kick off with a home tie in the Challenge Cup against Dundee, and the following week they face a trip to Livingston in the League Cup

The boss explained: “It will be a good home tie against Dundee in the Challenge Cup and the game against Livingston will also give us a real test.

“Its then we will be able to see how far we have come.”

In addition to pre-season friendlies against St Johnstone and Raith Rovers, the Lichties have also arranged a warm-up against Highland League side Keith on July 9.

Mr Sheerin added: “With the SPL season starting back earlier, they are looking for bigger games the week before so it has been difficult arranging them.

“But we will get there and I’m sure there will be plenty more games to announce.”